Skating

Kwan leads her group in qualifying for worlds

WASHINGTON -- Michelle Kwan could have done this in her sleep.

Kwan practically tumbled out of bed to beat Russia's Elena Sokolova and U.S. teammate Sasha Cohen, winning her qualifying group at the World Figure Skating Championships. Olympic champion Sarah Hughes was sixth.

"It's odd to skate so early, compete so early," said Kwan, whose Wednesday session began at 10:30 a.m. "But all the skaters are in the same boat."

Well, they wish they were.

Considered the "old lady" of the sport -- her first worlds were in 1994 -- the 22-year-old Kwan remains a force. The lack of an Olympic title has had little or no effect on her. Kwan tends to perform steadily, and better than the competition.

She skated in only two events this year, not having to leave this country for Skate America and the U.S. Championships. She won both, taking her sixth consecutive national title and seventh overall.

Now Kwan leads at worlds, where she has won four times. Only Carol Heiss and Dick Button have won five among Americans.

"Ah, it just felt like another competition," Kwan said. "I feel pretty relaxed and comfortable. It's nice not having to travel so far. I guess that is the Americans' advantage. And having the crowd cheer for you."

Japan's Fumie Suguri, the bronze medalist a year ago, won the other qualifier, followed by Canada's Jennifer Robinson and Russia's Viktoria Volchkova.

In pairs, China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo held onto their title over Russians Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin.

Shen and Zhao had the crowd on its feet 35 seconds before they were done, and the fans were chanting 6.0 as the pair took its bows. They received four perfect marks.

Two American couples performed well and squeezed into the top 10. U.S. champions Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn wound up ninth. Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr. finished 10th.

The MCI Center was about one-third full for Kwan's group, which included Hughes, whose performance included a fall and two shortened jumps.

Cohen hit seven triple jumps, three in combination, and had a strong conclusion. She was mechanical early, but her spins and spirals were superb at the end and she finished first with one of the seven judges. Her marks ranged from 5.1 to 5.9, while Kwan's were 5.7 to 5.9.

Kwan had one mistake, doing a single toe loop as the second part of a combination with a triple toe.

Hughes lacked spark and looked rusty from lack of competition this season -- an injured leg sidelined her until nationals, where she was second. She never got in the air for a planned triple salchow-triple loop combination, and then after hitting a triple loop out of footwork, she fell on a triple flip. Later, Hughes managed only a single toe rather than a triple.

Suguri probably wouldn't have been in the top three in the morning group, but she was efficient enough to win her section. She had two major errors.

JUDGE REMOVED: A Hungarian judge was removed from the panel for the women's event, punishment for being a founding member of the World Skating Federation.

Fifteen minutes before she was to report, Judit Furst-Tombor said she received a letter from the president of the Hungarian skating federation withdrawing her from the panel.

Furst-Tombor is "acting against the ISU's constitution," Hungarian federation president Ferenc Batho wrote in a letter to International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta.

Batho could not immediately be reached. The ISU said it would have no comment.

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